Nuclear new build: There are plans to develop five sites in the UK to produce new nuclear capacity in the next few years, creating many opportunities for UK subcontractors. For example, at Hinkley Point C, contracts awarded so far are worth over £1.3 billion, 64% of which has gone to UK companies. The sites are being developed by three consortia, which each has its own portal for suppliers to register and access opportunities.
Nuclear generation: The UK’s eight currently active nuclear power stations are operated by EDF Energy, which provides guidance for potential suppliers here.
Decommissioning: The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is managing the decommissioning of 17 sites across the UK. The British nuclear decommissioning industry generates more than £1.7 billion of business per year for UK plc, and over 21% is spent with SMEs, with NDA intending to increase this to 31% by 2020, an indication of the opportunities available.
The NDA’s spend is across four ‘tiers’ of contractors
- Tier one – the site licence companies (SLC) appointed by NDA to manage the decommissioning of sites
- Tier two companies, directly contracted by the SLC
- Tier three and four suppliers, subcontracted by a tier two company to provide a service.
The NDA has set out contractual terms that are required to be ‘flowed down’ from tier one companies to those subcontracted (or sub-subcontracted) to deliver services.
